They did not screw anyone over, their email specifically says that it is not a data request. I remember one person saying they had a panic attack reading the email. Like come on, let's be real.
I got the email and I nearly had a panic attack. The email wasn’t completely generic: it referred to my specific site. It also read an awful lot as if it was coming from someone who would be looking for the slightest mistake in my response so that they could sue me. Similar things happen[1]. And finally, it lied and said I was compelled to respond, quoting a law that said no such thing (and which wouldn’t apply to my zero-revenue personal project website anyway).
The stress wasn’t from the email. It’s that it gave every indication that I was being contacted by a legal troll, and that I might have to defend my hobby project in a courtroom. I couldn’t afford the costs of doing that, even if I ultimately won, and the idea of “well, there goes the college fund because of a stupid lawsuit on my hobby” was awful.
Thank you for sharing your experience; you're shedding more light on the situation than anyone else is right now. Out of curiosity, would you be willing to copy and paste the email contents here?
